Butterfly Kisses
by Widom
Summary: A young Apollite copes with the death of his only love. DarkHunter novels, but can be understood without.


**Butterfly Kisses**

Summary: A young Apollite tries to survive his lover's death. Slash, one-shot, Dark Hunter novels. Original characters, both of them. Any other questions?

000

_Alastair could remember the night he had fallen in love with Erasmus._

It had not been a special night, not by any means, but a typical night in Southern Wyoming with snapping winds and a flurry of snow that flew by their small, pathetic shelter at an almost horizontal angle. The two of them had been alone, Alastair a young, impressionable nineteen and Erasmus a slightly-older twenty one, and Alastair had been huddled, freezing, in a corner, reluctantly giving the warmth of their small fire to Erasmus. Alastair had been trained to do so: in fact, self-sacrifice had become his sole duty since he had come to work for the Apollite royal family, and, while he couldn't exactly say he was happy to be watching over spoiled Prince Erasmus, the pay was decent enough to support an undemanding man like himself for a good while and he never had to speak to the spoiled little brat anyway. It was an easy job for someone of his expertise, and, really, it didn't require much.

A shiver passed through him, violent and consuming, and he gritted his teeth to stop them from chattering. Alastair just wished he didn't have to be so **damn cold**. Alastair shuddered again, and this time he couldn't stop the slight chattering. He could have cursed when 'His Highness' heard him.

"My god, Alastair, are you alright? You sound like you're freezing to death."

Alastair wanted to say something sharp and biting, but for vast a number of reasons he did not. For one, he didn't really want to get fired. For another, he couldn't have made it sound biting considering the chattering of his teeth. And perhaps most importantly...Alastair hadn't realized that the Prince even knew his name. The small detail, insignificant as it was to most, made Alastair pause in his normal sharp attitude towards snobs. In fact, to his credit, his response came out sounding almost polite.

"I am a little cold, yes, but I'll be fine."

Erasmus shook his head and, surprisingly enough, stood and walked away from the fire to sit beside him.

"No, you won't be. I can see your breath and you haven't stopped shaking since we came in. Come sit by the fire with me."

Erasmus' concern annoyed him slightly, and he found himself shaking his head and moving farther away. Alastair didn't need a damn thing from someone like Erasmus. Alastair didn't need the pity, and he didn't need the scorn. And he certainly didn't need Erasmus' damn fire.

"No thank you."

Erasmus sighed, and rolled his eyes heavenward as if to ask Apollo why he was so stubborn, but he didn't move an inch.

"Very well...I'll sit by you, then."

Alastair stood quickly, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling of the deserted building, and glared down at the deceptively innocent face of Prince Erasmus. The prince was just so damn pretty...dark eyes that a man could drown in and dark curls surrounding and covering him like a blanket, making him look like a fallen angel. It meant nothing, however...Alastair hardly had time for angels, and especially not crazy, suicidal ones. Sit by him, indeed.

"You most certainly will not!"

Erasmus simply smiled at him, his lips curving. "I am just as capable as freezing to death as anyone else, and I don't see any reason why you should do it alone."

Alastair could only stare at him, at his sincere gaze and compassionate smile. Not an arrogant smirk, as there usually was, but a smile...and for some reason, that made all the difference.

"Fine, fine...I'll sit with you. Just don't get me fired, okay?"

Erasmus had laughed lightly, smiled sweetly, and helped Alastair to his feet with gentle hands. He had such warm, smooth hands...and yes, Alastair would admit it, he held on to those hands a bit longer than neccesary. Erasmus didn't seem to mind.

They were in that shelter for three days and nights, just waiting out the cold and hiding from the sun, staying close to one another and sharing heat like they were the best of friends. On the second night, they knew everything about one another...by the last night, Alastair was in love for the first time in his short life, but he was so afraid.

Erasmus was his soul, a short few days turning someone he barely knew into someone he couldn't live without...but he was a prince, a royal Apollite, and Erasmus would never lower himself to falling in love with someone little more than a servant in his life. And Alastair was just so afraid that Erasmus would hate him for falling in love when it was not his place. As a prince, he was expected to marry, have many children, carry on the royal line...and Erasmus couldn't do that with Alastair. Yes, Alastair was in a horrible situation with no possibility of happiness.

_Alastair could remember when he found out that Erasmus loved him back._

It was a typical night only a year later, a normal Apollite night with discussions of the fate of their people, the threat of Dark-Hunters: a serious subject, of course, but Alastair was sick of hearing about it and opted to simply let Erasmus do his job without him yawning in the background. So he left, left to smoke a cigarette in the night air and imagine what it was like to be a human. He had expected to be alone, considering the serious conference that was happening, but he was not. A young woman, an obvious Apollite, stood outside as well, her long red hair spilling over her back and her face serene and perfect. She was the most beautiful woman Alastair had ever seen, but he had no idea why she was there, or even who she was, and he was almost afraid to ask. He had already turned around to head back inside away from the woman when he heard snapping, the woman snapping her fingers at him.

"You, servant, come here." Her voice was sharp and spoiled, her words selfish and rude, sucking her physical beauty from her like a leech, and Alastair gritted his teeth. Another goddamn snob...the Apollite world was full of them, and Erasmus was, as far as he was concerned, the only exception to the rule. The last thing he wanted to do was get roped into being ordered around by any of them, least of all this woman. Instead, he simply turned around, a perfectly neutral expression on his face.

"Yes ma'am?"

She smiled at him, a wicked smile, as she studied him with blue eyes. She motioned him towards her with a long-fingered hand. "Come here, darling. Come kiss me...you are pretty enough."

Alastair shook his head, freezing in place as a sign of refusal just a few feet away from her. He didn't like women at all, much less an evil redhead with an urge to sample the help.

She growled, and kissed him instead, holding his face strongly in place until he simply pushed her away, causing her to land on her shapely butt much harder than neccesary. She glared at him, screaming.

"You filthy, little SERVANT! You are going to pay for thi-"

"Sheryl!"

Alastair winced, easily recognizing Erasmus' voice. It had filled his dreams for over a year, but never had it been angry. Erasmus had never been angry before, always staying bright and smiling, but now he was. And Alastair knew that it was his fault.

The woman, Sheryl, pushed herself up and positively squealed. "Darling! This mean man wasn't treating me with respect. Please punish him, darling." And then she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist like a girlfriend...or a fiancé. A betrothed...Alastair knew instantly that this was why she was here. And he could barely breathe, because his heart was breaking.

"I don't think so, Sheryl. This is my guard, Alastair. He may have seen you as a threat."

She pouted, but Erasmus simply gave her a slight push towards the door, telling her to go inside. She went happily, tossing one last glare over her shoulder at him before leaving. Alastair turned away, letting a single tear slip. Erasmus' fiancé...and he no doubt loved her, as well. Erasmus was just that sort of person: if he was supposed to spend his life, short as it would be, with someone, then he would love them. Alastair understood...

He just wished it was him.

"Alastair."

Alastair didn't turn, because he couldn't look at Erasmus just then. Maybe later, but not then, not when Alastair was in so much pain.

"Alastair, look at me."

"No." It was just out of the question.

"Why not? I saw you kiss her, Alastair. There is no point in hiding it."

Alastair sniffed, a slight smile touching his face. So, now Erasmus thought Alastair had betrayed him by kissing his woman...well, let him think that. It would be better if Erasmus just hated him now, so that he never had to face the happy couple Erasmus and Sheryl would become.

"Go to hell, Erasmus. And take your fucking jealousy with you."

Alastair began to walk away, each step causing his heart to burst and his memories to flash before his eyes. Erasmus...his warmth. His laughter. His eyes. His pure, pure heart. Alastair didn't know how he would live without him, but he had to, because Erasmus didn't belong to him.

"Alastair, wait!" Erasmus ran after him, stopping in front of him with a hand on his shoulder and concern in his eyes, along with something else: pain. Alastair had hurt him.

"What do you want, Erasmus? To yell at me for kissing that bitch? Believe me, I didn't do it by choice," Alastair snapped, shaking Erasmus' concerned hand from his shoulder.

Erasmus looked at him, his eyes wide for some unknown reason. "She kissed **you**?"

"Yes, so what?"

Erasmus sighed, smiling again, whatever had been bothering him forgotten.

"Oh, thank Apollo. I thought I had lost you." And then Erasmus stopped, embarassed, biting his lip.

There was silence, complete silence and Alastair could barely breathe. **I thought I had lost you**...what was Erasmus trying to say?

Alastair didn't know...but he knew there was only one thing **he** could say.

Alastair cupped Erasmus' face in both hands, his lips only inches away. "I love you, Erasmus."

Erasmus sighed happily in relief, smiling weakly at him. "Oh, thank Apollo. Really?"

"Of course 'really.' I've loved you for a year, since those nights in the blizzard."

Erasmus laughed, his breath soft on Alastair's lips. "I've loved you since I first saw you, Alastair."

Alastair smiled, and pressed his lips to Erasmus,' just so happy to be kissing him, so happy to be in his heart. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for happiness after all.

_And, perhaps most importantly, Alastair remembered the night he lost Erasmus to death._

They had been together for three years, loved and lived and made love for three years. Happiness was rich and full in their lives, and another hier had been chosen for the Apollite throne when it became obvious that Erasmus was not producing any...they had no worries, save one.

Erasmus was two years older than Alastair, and his twenty-seventh birthday would be upon them in just six months. They had already decided, both of them, that they could never become Damien's, could never take human lives, many many of them, to save themselves. Apollites didn't kill...it went against the codes set for them by Apollo. They knew that they would both except their deaths...but Alastair was so afraid. Erasmus would die before him, and then he would be alone, broken...Alastair could only pray that Apollo would let them be together in the afterlife.

They were walking, discussing anything that came to mind, holding hands and smiling. With their black hair and dark eyes, they could have been mistaken for brothers, but that was okay...many Apollites shared similar looks. Alastair found him so beautiful despite it, and Erasmus' smile, that full smile, made him seem almost immortal. He wasn't.

The shot rang out, and it echoed through the streets as Erasmus fell, limp in Alastair's arms. His blood, black in the dim life and warm as it poured from the hole in his belly. Alastair could feel him dying even then, his life blood covering his hands as Alastair tried in vain to staunch the wound. He searched the street for the shooter, and he saw them...a Dark Hunter, whooping with triumph as they watched him try to save Erasmus, their gun still drawn.

"He's an APOLLITE, YOU MONSTER!" Alastair shouted at them, but they laughed at him, turning away, walking away from the two of them like he had done nothing wrong. The laughter continued to echo in his mind long after they had left, and Alastair could only look into Erasmus' eyes as he felt him began to shiver, shock over taking him. There was nothing he could do: nobody else was around, and hospitals were useless...they couldn't risk a human finding out about their race. But oh, how he wished it would have helped.

"Erasmus..." His eyes fogged and tears spilled over, some falling on the cheek of his fallen love. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, he still had six months left...he couldn't die. It wasn't his time...he still had six months.

"Alastair, I lo-love you. Don't forget that," Erasmus whispered, his words like butterfly kisses on his cheek, his last breath softer than that even.

Alastair nodded, felt him shake one last time, and he wept. He wept until he felt Erasmus' body grow cold, and then he screamed up at the sky, railing at Apollo. Erasmus was the best of them, the purest, his finest child, and Apollo let him die from a bullet wound. From a Dark Hunter. Oh, how he hated them.

Alastair stood, his body shaking, his hands clenched and white as he followed the path the Dark Hunter had taken. Alastiar was upon him shortly, moving faster than he ever had, and he didn't give him a chance to say anything, simply wrapped his hands around the Hunter's throat and squeezed until he felt the evil creature cough and go unconcious, and Alastair ripped him apart.

A Dark Hunter had stolen Erasmus from him before his time, for no reason...and he would kill them all.

_That had been two long years ago, two long years of hunting and killing and sleeping. He slept and remembered. He remembered, and he killed. He was ridding the world of those monsters, one by one, and now was the time to make it official. His twenty-seventh birthday...his first human._

_And not his last. A tear trickled down his cheek as he stole their soul, feeling them grow empty as he did what he had sworn he would never do. But more important than a promise..._

Erasmus, my darling,_ he thought with a wobbly smile, _I'll see you in a little while.


End file.
